I shall live badly if I do not write, and I shall write badly if I do not live.
— Françoise Sagan
![](https://i0.wp.com/cassystuart.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/woman-thoughtfully-relaxing-on-the-bank-of-the-lake.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&ssl=1)
I started journaling way before it became a mainstream. At about age of 11, I think. It wasn’t called the same 30 years back then. I was called – writing in your diary.
They say people who like to read usually have dairies. That was my case. The first book I read from cover to cover was Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen, by Jules Verne. I remember having that feeling of going “all in” for the first time into the world, created by author. Feeling the desperation of the slaves, experiencing all the scary scenes, sensing the sea wind on my skin while standing on the deck of the ship together with main characters. It was something incredible! I think my love to travelling and to sea was born then.
Multiple books read by me since then nourished my creative mind. It wasn’t rare that I became overwhelmed by my own thoughts and emotions. And at some point relief was found through writing my thoughts (often in the form of poetry, childish and silly of course, but always extremely generous and truthful) on paper. Years passed, my dairies became multiple, were kept in secret place inside my table and I was writing in them almost daily.
I think my flair to analyses, my emotional stability and internal strength came for the most part through those daily writing exercises.
If you would like to learn more about What types of Journaling are there and what good it can bring into your life, please, read the following article right HERE!